Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 2/5/2009

Question
QUESTION: hello.  i am a mother of a daughter who has been dancing for 9 years.  her love is classical ballet and she adores the art and seeks more education and technical training.  she recently auditioned for orlando ballet, abt, kirov, and joffrey.  she was accepted into all programs; with abt location in texas and joffrey location midwest.  her last audition will take place this weekend and it will be with sab.  if she gets accepted into sab's program, which school would you recommend?  we are looking for a school which offers small classes and will therefore give her more attention (for corrections and so on).

ANSWER: Hello Cristina. I offer a very general guide, but hopefully this will be helpful.

If your daughter has been trained in the Vagonava method, the Kirov may be the best ballet summer intensive for her, as that would be consistent with her training.

Otherwise, I would pick The ABT intensive. The training is geared toward all classical choreographic styles, and certainly has an excellent faculty and reputation.

Large classes are a fact of summer intensives. The talent that is accepted will vary in numbers and I believe every school tries its best to limit the class sizes. Quite honestly, since your daughter has been accepted into all the programs that she has auditioned for, I doubt that she will lack attention even in a large class.

I think your daughter would do well at any one of these schools. I hope she feels a wonderful accomplishment at having been accepted so broadly!

A summer intensive away from home will be challenging for most children.  And for most, it is a wonderful adventure, even with difficult moments.

All the best to both of you, DIanne



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: have you heard about the abt training based in texas?  also. what have you heard about joffrey midwest?  she has not trained in the Vagonava technique... mostly just classical ballet.  her teacher is from the atlanta ballet company.  also, how do you feel about sab?  i believe that is a program which is extremely hard to get into.

Answer
I have never heard anything negative about these schools - I do not pay any attention to criticism such as I might read on a dance forum, unless it is mentioned many times. You can always find a single complaint, and unfortunately, you cannot tell how exactly the expectations one student had were unfulfilled. My feeling about the SAB is a personal opinion - the training is naturally geared to dancing Balanchine's choreography, which is marvellous. However, any well trained and adaptable dancer can learn Balanchine choreography and its particular style, as a professional.

I think ABT is geared toward training for all the classics, so it accommodates a broader range of ability.

Since your daughter has wonderful choices, select what is best for her in an overall sense - closeness to home, if that is a concern, and other aspects of the situation.

If you or your daughter are interested, I have many articles at http://www.balletshoesandpointeshoes.blogspot.com on nutrition, stretching using a pinkie ball, (a small hard rubber ball) and other articles on rest and recovery to avoid dance injuries and maintain muscle tone. This information is all geared for students to study with awareness of their body's best care, when they are training intensively.

I hope this helps, Dianne